The first-ever H&H Volleyball youth summer camp was held in Hampton this week with over 60 girls participating!
Check out all the activities, practices, camps, and planning that’s been happening this summer with the inaugural sports co-op with Hampton Public Schools and Heartland Community Schools!
It’s hard to believe that in a few months, Heartland and Hampton will be competing in the fall sports of volleyball and girls’ golf together as H&H Bearcats! Heartland and Hampton will both still be competing as the Huskies and Hawks in football due to the NSAA two-year schedule already in place.
These kinds of sports co-ops don’t happen overnight. Both school boards, administrators, and coaches have put in a great deal of behind-the-scenes preparatory work. Administrators and ADs Josh Struckman (Heartland) and Carson Klute (Hampton) have been meeting regularly to coordinate game schedules, assign officials, and manage transportation logistics, ensuring a smooth cooperative effort.
“Since summer started, we’ve been meeting weekly with administrators from both schools and Carson Klute. The blending of our two sports programs has gone pretty smoothly,” said Heartland AD Josh Struckman
Carson Klute wears a couple of hats at Hampton, where he is both the Athletic Director and the High School Principal. He is excited about how well he has seen kids from both schools mesh and integrate through their shared practices and camps this summer.
“Seeing firsthand how our kids are building new relationships that wouldn’t have happened otherwise has been phenomenal! We know that sports and school activities can bring kids together like nothing else; sweating it out in the weight room or practicing hard together are experiences they can’t have anywhere else,” said Klute.
The inaugural H&H Bearcat basketball camps were held in June at the Hampton gyms, where over 50 kids participated. In July, the first-ever Bearcat volleyball camp will also be held in Hampton. With the Heartland gym under construction this summer, it’s been great to have the Hampton gyms available for all the summer camps – photos below from Heartland Community Schools
The new H&H cheerleading squad held a two-day in-house camp in Hampton in June with an outside instructor. “This was much less costly than attending an outside cheer camp, and they received some great individualized coaching for the new squad,” said Klute.
One of the reasons for forming the sports cooperative was to allow for more Reserve, Freshman, and JV games on the schedule. According to Struckman, they have already lined up 11 girls’ and boys’ reserve basketball games. “There aren’t enough girls for scheduling any freshman basketball games, but we have four freshman games lined up for the boys,” he said.
Klute agreed on the importance of offering more game opportunities for student-athletes.
“It’s nice to see not only reserve games being scheduled but especially the stand-alone freshman games! We can now offer our kids the opportunity to compete at their appropriate level and experience some success,” said Klute.
The junior high volleyball coaches have requested that the ADs schedule not only A and B games, but also some C games, as they have more girls on the roster than expected, according to Klute. “We are more than willing and excited to provide more games if it’s possible, especially at the junior high level when kids are gaining exposure to a sport,” said Klute.
The H&H Bearcat Youth Volleyball camp was held this week in Hampton and was well attended! There were 38 girls in the 1st-4th grade session and 32 girls in the 5th-8th grade group. Head Coach Kayla Gaughen, in the middle photo, instructs the girls on the ready, aim, fire serving drill.
The master sports calendar for 2024/2025 is available by clicking on this link. It indicates where games will be played, either at Heartland or Hampton, and is color-coded with maroon and purple to identify the game’s location easily.
“I think the kids are excited about the new changes and are working really hard this summer. We’ve seen increased weight lifting numbers this summer, and we have plenty of coaches on hand to supervise,” said Struckman.
Both Struckman and Klute see the H&H Bearcat cooperative as an exciting new chapter for both schools!
Summer Activities for H&H Teams, Cheerleading Squad, and Heartland Football
High School Boys Weight Lifting Attendance
Averaging around 30 boys a day
High School Girls Weight Lifting Attendance
Averaging around 23 girls a day
High School Girls BB Summer (June)
Open gyms
Bancroft-Rosalie @ Hampton Scrimage
York Team Camp
Hosted Youth Basketball Camp for grades 1st -8th, June 2-4
High School Boys BB Summer (June)
Open Gyms
Team Camp
Played at Cross County Camp
Hosted Cross County, Sutton, EMF, and Sandy Creek Scrimmages
Hosted Youth Basketball Camp
High School VB Summer (July)
Monday night summer league at Centennial
Bellevue University Skills and Culture Camp July 1-2
Youth VB Camp for grades 1st – 8th July 8-10
Host grades 5-6 and 7-8 Skills Clinics July 15, 22, & 29
UNK volleyball team camp July 18
Heartland High School Football (July)
Skill work, July 8, 7:15 – 8:15 a.m.
Line Work, July 10 – 8 -9 p.m.
Team Camp – July 14, 17, & 18, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Concordia Team Camp – July 15
Offensive Line work, July 22 – 8-9 p.m.
Skill work, July 24, 8-9 p.m.
Offensive line work – July 29, 8-9 p.m.
Skill work – July 31, 8-9 p.m.
5 on 5 Scrimmages – July 9,16, & 23 – 6-8 p.m.
Cheerleading (June & July)
Attended UCA cheer camp
Participated in Hampton Booster Days
Cheer practices
Henderson Community Days participation
Current New H&H Bearcat Coach Hires – photos from Heartland Community Schools
High School Volleyball
Jr. High Volleyball
Jr. High Football
High School Girls Basketball
Jr. High Girls Basketball
High School Boys Basketball
Jr. High Boys Basketball
Girls Golf
Boys Golf: Head Coach Chad Buzek and Assistant Coach Paige Peters
High School & Jr. High Track & Field
Cheer Squad: Head Coach Jessa Klute; Assistant Amy Pinney
